food for thought....

“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.”
— Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom


“Never have the armies of the North brought peace, prosperity, or democracy to the peoples of Asia, Africa, or Latin America. In the future, as in the past five centuries, they can only bring to these peoples further servitude, the exploitation of their labor, the expropriation of their riches, and the denial of their rights. It is of the utmost importance that the progressive forces of the West understand this.”
-- Samir Amin


“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
-- Former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech on April 16, 1953

Finally some clarity....

Wow...so many things have happened in the last few weeks that I haven't even had a chance to sit down and write. I started Uni 2 weeks ago again, and since then I've already had 3 exams, 2 presentations, finished 2 courses, and sat through more than enough hours of class. And since the weather has been absolutely beautiful in Vienna, this was coupled with quite a bit of other very fun stuff. And after all this, I'm still not nearly done, but at least I'm having a great time! Particularly because of the classes that I'm taking. Just a few short weeks ago I had no idea why I was still studying business, how I was going to get through the few semesters I still have left, and ultimately the question of what I want to do when I'm done. Then came an article that sort of changed my life, at least for the time being, in the sense that I'm enjoying what I'm learning again, and I'm actually looking forward to sitting through hours of lectures. The article is "Serving the World's Poor, Profitably" by C.K. Prahalad. So life altering was this article, that I agreed to do a 20 page paper and 30 minute presentation by myself on this topic for another class, instead of sticking to some already chosen topic and doing it in a group. Sometimes I question my sanity in choosing to be an overachiever. But either way, I would probably end up researching the various ideas and criticisms regarding what Prahalad said. Although the article has been published in 2002, he's also written a book examining the topic quite recently, and I'm hoping to get my hands on it very soon, since there is a lot more information supporting his views. It's just so damn interesting!

I've also had the amazing opportunity to have a class taught by a member of the WTO who flew in from Geneva for two days to teach. Most people with whom I've discussed this particular organization know my unfavourable opinion of it (something along the lines of the spawn of satan), but once again, my views have slightly shifted. It's so easy to take an opinion without really knowing why, or based on only one story/event. It's only after learning a bit more about the issue, that keeping your original opinion becomes harder and harder. This is the case with the WTO. Of course there are still rulings and approaches to issues with which I disagree, but understanding the way in which the org works makes it a lot easier to understand why they do things the way they do. I'm only at the tip of the iceberg with this, but what I've learned so far makes me really want to go deeper. Who would have thought that I'd actually learn something in class! And here I was thinking that I'm wasting my time at this Uni, when all I needed to do was just take a leap and do something different...

Going to visit family in Poland for Easter on Wednesday, and then maybe a spontaneous trip somewhere exotic?? I need to find a travel partner first....who wants to come with?? It'll be fun, I promise! ;)

What's your AQ??

www.findyouraq.com

Found this fun website in a magazine the other day. Quite appropriate for all the adventurous nomaders out there. Going through some of the questions, I found then next thing to put on my list of "Things to do before I die": go to the airport with a suitcase and no ticket....Now if I have to put a date to this, I'm going to say by the end of the year. I'm actually really considering doing it quite soon....hhhmmmm....anyone up for an adventure??(hopefully my Mom isn't reading this ;)...hehe)

Berlin - shisha night

Berlin - shisha night(Caro)
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

Carolin finally enjoying a shisha in her own flat...glad I could help you there girl! ;)

Berlin - shisha night

Berlin - shisha night
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

Me going along with Caro's idea to get dressed up Arabian style to smoke our shisha...

Berlin - Brandenburger Tor

Berlin - Brandenburger Tor
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

Berlin sunset

Berlin sunset
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

Berlin - Friendly little bird

Berlin - Little bird
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

A bunch of birds joined us while Carolin and I had currywurst. All was good until we realized they were pooping all over the table and chairs...then we left.

Berlin - Reichstag

Berlin - Reichstag
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

Inside the Reichstag dome.

Berlin - Currywurst

Berlin Currywurst
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

mmmm....

Berlin from TV Tower

Berlin from TV Tower
Originally uploaded by KasiaS.

Pic of Berliner Dom, and Unter den Linden heading towards Brandenburger Tor.

lost and searching...

Every once in a while I start to ask myself questions like, what do I really want to do when I "grow up", where do I want to live, who do I want to be. Pretty much trying to figure out where I'm going on this road of life. Whenever I ask myself these questions, I always come up with the same answer...I don't know. Well, this week, that answer isn't going to be good enough anymore. In a few months I'll be back on campus at the U of I as a senior, ready to take the next steps into the "real world", but before that happens, I have to register for classes. One slight little hiccup along the way...I'm not really sure what I'm studying anymore. At one point it was Finance, but that was about as pleasant as getting teeth pulled. Then there was Marketing, only most of the people I knew that had graduated in Marketing, didn't have a job. Hmm...Business Admin? Nope. Entrepreneurship? Do I really need that as a major? Accounting? Who knows. So here I am, with registration just a few short days away, staring at a huge fork in the road. It's like The Price is Right...if you choose Door Number 1, numbers 2 and 3 are no longer an option. But why can't I just peek behind all three, see what my options are, and then pick?? Is that too much to ask? Apparently yes... So it's back to square one...do I want to stay in the US? work abroad? corporation or ngo? masters? in what? what about money? what about time? So many variables that have to be worked out, and yet so little time to do it in. But like all things in life, I'm sure this too will eventually turn into something good, and anyways, when you make plans, always do it in pencil.

story time...

Yes, I realize I've really been neglecting my blogger duties. Ever since I got back from my trip, I've just sort of developed writer's block and could barely start a sentence, much less finish a paragraph. But, there's also quite a bit that's been going on since then, and I feel it's about time I got back to writing these little updates. I know all the adoring fans will be happy =P I warn you, this will be long...

So, going back, I still haven't written much about my trip. It was a lot of fun, even though also a bit exhausting, but then again, when are my trips not exhausting...with my luck, something always manages to happen. Read on to find out more...

My 9 hour train ride was shared by what had to have been the two most talkative girls in Austria. We were in a 6 seat compartment, and they only managed to shut up about 3AM, which gave me roughly 3 hours of "sleep" before arriving in Berlin. Carolin met me at the station, and in all of 5 minutes I of course got lost. I forgot to stamp my train ticket, so as luck would have it, when she quickly ran out to do it, the train doors closed and I was on the train going I don't know where, while the ticket I needed was in Caro's hand. And this was just the beginning...luckily I met her at the next stop, we got to her flat, and all was back to normal. I registered for some courses at uni and rested during the day, then we went out for Arabic food, a shisha (even picked up some free coal for our's at home) and an underground Berlin club called Kinzo where we met up with Caro's friends at night. Wow....what an experience that was. Interesting should sum it up, and yet it was so much more. Berlin can be scary in the first few hours, but after a few days it really grows on you. The music, the people, the clothes, all of it is a bit much at first, but really great once you get into it. We had a fun night at the club, got an interesting proposition from our cab driver on the way home, then got back with plans to wake up early to go sightseeing the next day. That of course didn't happen.

On Saturday we finally woke up around noon, had breakfast and didn't leave the flat until around 2:30. As we were in the tram, Caro bought me the wrong ticket, and not wanting it to go to waste, I told her we should be spontaneous and go wherever that ticket let us. We ended up in Marzan, or East Berlin, which actually meant we didn't use the ticket, but it was a good pretext to go somewhere I otherwise probably wouldn't have gone. She was telling me that this place has a sort of eerie feeling to it, and at first I just thought, "OK, nod your head and smile, pretending to agree." But soon enough I wasn't just pretending. Imagine a city with huge apartment complexes, literally housing thousands of people, and then walking through the streets and not seeing a soul. It was probably 10 mins from the time we got out of the train until we actually saw a person, and being a Saturday afternoon, that's just odd. Add to it a gloomy, rainy day, and freaky is an understatement, although it was also quite sad. Ravinous by the time we left, we tried our luck with a Thai restaurant that was supposedly the best in Berlin, but unfortunatly 50 other people thought the same thing that night and we had nowhere to sit. Only a few doors down, we found another Arabic restaurant offering a cheap buffet dinner. Perfect. Afterwards it's back home to change and then meet Caro's friends at a Kika Tournee, or a foosball tournament, where we got cheap drinks cause her friends worked at the bar. =) After some sipping and mingling, a group of us decided we should go to a club, so we hop a train and go to Rio! After the previous night's partying, I was a Berlin club veteran so nothing really fazed me. The music was fun and the people were great, so it actually turned out to be one of my favorite nights out, even. We left around 5, which is considered early by Berlin standards. Basically, club wise, if it's bad you stay until 5, if it's good you stay till 7. But once again, we wanted to get a head start on the next day's sightseeing (didn't happen...again), so after losing my shoe in the middle of a street while running through a beautiful snowfall to catch the tram, we got home.

The next "morning" was also around noon. There's a pattern developing here....We again left around 3, walked around the city a bit, found a church (it was Sunday) and after mass tried our luck with the Thai place again. This time, we managed to get a seat and yeah, it was definitely worth coming back for. Being the shisha addicts that we are, we went in search of another shisha place. After one Moroccan place that was just too trendy and stuck up, we found my fave Berlin shisha cafe, Egyptian of course. We ordered a shisha and karkadeh, sat down and reminisced about the summer. With the fake palm tree next to us (pretty convincing tho), it was the perfect setting for reliving summer memories, and a nice quiet night to offset the craziness of the the previous two.

Monday was my last day in Berlin, and since I didn't properly see any touristy places, this was the last possible day to do it. We actually got out earlier, and headed to see some panoramic views of the city from Fernsehturm, or the TV Tower. And, as luck would have it, it was snowing, so visibility was a whole 2 meters. A while later it started to clear up, and we got to see some pretty incredible views of Berliner Dom, Brandenburger Tor and hideous 1970's box-like constructions. Next was traditional Berlin food, Currywurst, or curry sausage, that was shared with some friendly birds that decided to join us at our table. To the non-vegetarians, I highly recommend this ultimate Berlin tourist treat!! The rest of the day we walked around the city sightseeing, until finally getting to Brandenburger Tor and Reichstag in the evening. We were a bit exhausted because of all the walking and the fact that it was freezing, but we still ended up making a quick trip to Potsdamer Platz which is all office buildings and cinemas and tourists, otherwise Caro's least favorite part of the city. Because the Berlin Film Festival, or Berlinale, was taking place then, there were screenings for different movies all over the city. And although it would have been an awesome experience, getting tickets to one was nearly impossible. Other than pretty lights and familiar tourist accents, Potsdamer Platz really didn't have much to offer, at least not to two cold, exhausted, starving girls, so we headed back towards Caro's flat to an Indian restaurant nearby. A lesson I learned that night...if someone tells you the restaurant is just around the corner, make sure you ask how far the corner is. ;) Another buffet...mmm...after which we went back to her place to finally sit our butts down and look at pics, and of course smoke another shisha. Even though we asked at every shisha cafe we went to how to prepare one, these two blondies just couldn't get ours to work properly. Figuring we don't have much to lose, Caro brought out the tool box and we got to work cutting the hose to see if that's the problem...a few minutes and some masking tape later, our shisha was as good as new. Caro then came up with the genius idea that we should get dressed up, so she pulled out her giant gold necklace and matching earrings from Khan El Khalili, let me borrow another gold pair, we wrapped ourselves with belly dancing belts, and jingled our way to the sofa to relax and reminisce...a great way to end my stay in Berlin.

At 6AM the next morning, it was off to the airport for what would be another interesting couple of days with a wild girl named Leila, but I'll save that for another time...